Tag: Tom Lanham
The Lockdown Interviews ā¢ Hen Ogledd
Given the turbulent, truly batshit-crazy year that weāve all just staggered through, it was easy to overlook a lot of great, often idiosyncratic albums that continued to be released, pandemic be damned. And weād like to pause, catch our mask-in-place breath, and bring you up to speed on a few obscure aural delights you might […]
Featured: The Avalanches
āBuild a better mousetrap, and the world will beat a path to your door,ā goes the old Emerson-attributed adage. And Australian producer-multi-instrumentalist Robbie Chater can definitely relate. Back in 2000, his unassuming but ambitious little electronic trio The Avalanches came up with a debut disc like no other before it, the buzz-crackling Since I Left […]
Featured: Lindsey Stirling – “Home For The Holidays”
Itās hard to believe, but yes, itās that time of year again ā the usually festive, Frosty-and-Rudolph, tacky-sweater-sporting Yuletide season, when everyone, even that spindly little Charlie Brown conifer, gets spruced up for the occasion. But if youāre having a tough time getting out of grumbling Grinch mode, imagine how itās been for poor […]
Cover Story: The Smashing Pumpkins
Oh, that irascible old Billy Corgan. Even in a foreboding, energy-sapping, pandemic Plague Year, you just canāt take him ANYWHERE. It was a solid, thought-provoking opening question, intended to kick-start our recent interview with the man about CYR! The remarkably-assured new double-record set from Smashing Pumpkins, its 11th, featuring the mostly-original lineup of James Iha […]
Cover Story: Steve Kilbey
Serenity is where you find it; Steve Kilbey has decided, mid-pandemic. And in his beachside home in gorgeous Sydney, Australia, itās something that the spiritual-minded Church frontman has been actively seeking, from the moment he awakens every potentially-oppressive day. First of all, he says, āI have to be near the sea, I need to see […]
Cover Story: Mastodon
In the cold, clinical coronavirus age, no gift horse should ever be looked at directly in the mouth, reckons Mastodon drummer/lyricist Brann Dailor. So, take the Grammy-winning prog-metal outfitās latest odds-and-sods anthology Medium Rarities at face value ā as a surprise mid-pandemic present to diehard fans, featuring the jarring new juggernaut āFallen Torches,ā alongside a […]
Feature: The Mission
It was literally the last thing Wayne Hussey expected. His classic British goth-rock outfit, The Mission, had been on an extensive tour of Europe in March when the coronavirus started shutting down venue after venue until the situation got so desperate that he barely made it back to his new hometown of Sao Paulo, Brazil, […]
Feature: G.E. Smith and LeRoy Bell
Timing, they say, is everything. Thereās no possible way that legendary Long Island-based musicologist and guitar slinger G.E. Smith could have predicted meeting Washington state-reared, soul stylist LeRoy Bell roughly a year ago, or that they would hit it off so well that they would enter the studio to launch a new duo only two […]
Cover Story: The Bobby Lees
Oddsmakers could never correctly assess it. Fortune tellers could never predict it. And even the shrewdest talent scout this side of Col. Tom Parker could never pinpoint with any historical accuracy exactly where, when, or how tomorrowās Next Big Thing would be arriving in the music world. Rock stars ā however carefully cultivated they might […]
Hello, My Name Is: Ian Gillan of Deep Purple
Ian Gillan admits that itās a strange, surreal time to be releasing a new album. But the Deep Purple vocalist was justifiably proud of his bandās latest Whoosh! comeback, overseen by legendary, sound-effects-favoring producer Bob Ezrin, of Alice Cooper and Kiss Destroyer renown. āAnd Bob is the same age as us,ā notes Gillan, who will […]
Q&A: Gin Whigmore – Glass Half Full
If thereās anything that our current claustrophobic coronavirus crisis has made clear, itās this: One personās shuttered, brain-clouding lockdown is anotherās key to swinging the door open wide on an unexpected new creativity. Take New Zealand-bred R&B-rock chanteuse Gin Wigmore, for example. A few months ago, she had just given birth to her second son […]
Cover Story: The Go-Go’s – Document This!
Not that anyone should sink so deep into navel-gazing that they find fuzzy lint in these reflective post-pandemic times, but ā as many folks are discovering ā all this imposed downtime can lead to some eye-opening, perhaps life-changing introspection. The kind that might otherwise go unobserved back when we were all rushing through our hectic, […]
Hello My Name is…Mike Peters of The Alarm
by Tom Lanham You can hand Mike Peters the sourest, acrid batch of lemons ever harvested and the scrappy Alarm bandleader will make a refreshing, ice-cold pitcher of tasty lemonade with it every single time. This Welshman has often endured more hardships in a single month than most so-called rock survivors endure in a lifetime, […]
Cover Story: Jehnny Beth
There are Renaissance women, dream-driven ladies who tirelessly toil their way to coveted career kudos like gaining elite EGOT status by winning Emmy, Grammy, Oscar, and Tony Awards. There is even a further achievement to shoot for once that title is secured ā the PEGOT, via the added plaudit of a Peabody Award, a category […]
Hello, My Name Is… Butch Walker
Mega-producer and solo artist Butch Walker fully understands the dire scope of our current coronavirus pandemic, which is forcing folks all over the world to shelter in claustrophobic place while the worst passes. But ā truth be told ā heās noticed no tangible difference in his day to day Malibu activities, he swears. āIām at […]
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